Bee

My Baby Bee (The Queen Bee) was a rescue.

At the time I was a foster mom
for K-9s and worked with several non-profit organizations. Bee was
dropped off at my front door step by a gentleman that knew I
rescued/fostered. He stated he found this dog, she didn't have a chip,
had her for almost a week and could not find the owner. He said if I
didn't take her he was going to drop her off at the shelter on his way
home.

Well, what do you do? Of course I took this tiny, matted mess
in. I cleaned her up (nothing you can do with one big mass of matted
hair but to shave her to the skin after trying to cut most of the mats
out with scissors), took her to the vet. Got a good bill of health and
had her courtesy listed on my favorite rescue organization that I worked
with for years. By the vet, she was deemed about 12 years old which was
going to make an adoption nearly impossible. Turns out, that didn't
matter. Mind you I have never been a real poodle fan but after two days
of having her posted, I had the rescue remove her from the site. She was
mine.

This little girl warmed her way into my heart after fostering her
for 2 days. As time passed, she became registered as my emotional
support animal so I could take my pocket baby everywhere I went. She
traveled, when shopping with me, dined with me in public establishments,
hiked (I carried her), bought her a bikini and she went "swimming" with
me. If I went somewhere, we came as a two-some and everyone knew that.
"Well if we invite Wendy, we invite Bee".

I learned that Bee came to
me as a savior, my angel to help me recover from cancer 4 times. I
remember telling my husband to take Bee outside, feed her, offer her water
as she had not left my side all day. I survived cancer and two years
later Bee started showing signs of her body breaking down from age. She
first became deaf (which really bothered me because I always talked to
her and now she couldn't hear my voice), then blind (which the vet said
was remarkable as the cataracts were thick and in the shape of stars. I
remember how long he had that light shining in one eye at a time, going
back and fourth in disbelief of how unusual the thickness and shapes
were. A year later she was diagnosed with kidney disease and dementia.
I couldn't travel with her anymore as it stressed her out.

I stopped
going places, including shopping for groceries. I only left my Bee when
I absolutely had to and I arranged it when my husband could stay home
with her. Plus he took on the weekly shopping trips. In Bee's last
weeks the dementia took a toll on her. She would often become lost and
afraid. She would whine trying to figure out where she was, what was
going on. The only way to comfort her was to pick her up and cuddle her
myself. Realizing that her quality of life was so poor I made the
decision to let her go shortly after her birthday. It was selfish of me
not to let her go. She had given me so much over the years, it was time
for me to give back to her. I ended her struggles on Oct. 7th 2017 at
the age of 20. She left my side and crossed the bridge. Now my
struggles began.

Although I continue to struggle, I never regret the
decision I made to let her go. It was the greatest gift I could give
back to my sweet Bee.